my $.02 too first thing i always tell anybody who asks me about what to do in their yard (i'm not a pro ) is: 1. live with it until you decide how you are going to use it and start making a list of what you wnat to do. 2. live with it some more until you know how it works- where is the sun/shade,wet/dry etc. 3. draw a map of your yard/house, circle and itentify what you want to do where-- will it work in that area. examples. i live on a city lot 50x125. the house was built in the 20's, it's 25 feet from the street. the drive runs from the street to the rear of the back yard, but there is no garage. we had twin 2 year old when we moved in. #1 need was a fence to contain them. thats what we put up as we moved in. after living there for a year we knew we wanted an area to dry clothes on the line. an area for the kids to play in -- including a swing set/sandbox and fort. we wanted an area to grill in/eat out. an area to relax in that wasn't in the sun. all this we wanted to do in the back yard. in the front yard we wanted to use as an entry way that welcomed people. I was willing to spend 1-2 hrs per week doing yard work as well as a spring and fall clean-up. in reality i' only willing to spend about 1 hour perweek. This means i need to rely on perinneials and tough plants that don't need lots of care. our 3 major problems with the yard were too many trees, the back third of the back yard was low, slow draining, and never got sun (think mud for 6 months of the year or more) and heavy clay soil.` year one we cut down 42 trees from the lot -- most were over 8" in diameter. We kept an ancient hickory (58" diameter), a young hickory (14" diameter) a maple(12" diameter) and three pin oaks (all about 14" in diameter). we ran a clothes line along one side of the back yard. since the back third of the yard was in heavy shade and only mud. we topped it with 18 tons of pea gravel-- put in the swingset, fort in the maple tree and a large sandbox. also we made a sitting area and put the wading pool there. no sunburns while the kids played, no more mud, cool and shady. we use the drive as a patio. but all this took us three years to achieve-- time to observe etc. nowe that the kids are 18, i can replace the fort/swingset with a shed for storage. the sand box is used for forcing winter publs and as a temporary holding bed. the lay out of the clothes line is being changed so i can increase the area where i have flower bed and so that it isn't so obvious now that we can entertain. also i'm finally able to start putting in plants i truly want as the soil has been built up over the years with many applications of compost, mulch, topsoil, sand and peat. i'm losing my big hickory-- maybe 10-15 more years, but i started a replacement for it in a better spot that a future owner will appreciate. but what you need to do lis figure out what you will do in the yard, what you want to see from the house, what you whant to see from the road. where do you always go into the house from? where do you want guest to go when they arrrive? where do you needx a shovel in the winter. then you need to read read read about plants and ask questions. as some one said you can always move the plant-- i'm ready to rip out my front flower beds for the 5th time because i finally think i have a plan that will work right for me-- i have homes for all the plants in these beds in other areas of my yard. so cut rake compost plant annuals stick in bulbs find plants you like and learn for a year or so then satart putting in the 'bones' of your garden and then start filling in the gaps. diggerb

hey ... thanks. ... gallons and gallons of credit 'plus'/generic roundup .... glycophosphate... whats weird ... 2 weeks ago.. when others were talking about this.. i was moaning that apparently i was too rural to have any kind of close observational ability ... i mean you couldnt see anything ... then somebody says.. start using maps live.. and i still am moaning... and then a week later ... dax sends me an email and says the birds eye is now working.. whats that all about ... i wonder if the guy who recommended live maps.. was phishing for interest in the site.. and posted here.. and then hooked me up ... go figure ... care to fess up???/ ken

Wide blade grasses, dandelions, clover, plaintain, mint, raspberry and blackberry leaves, lemon balm, thyme, basil, oregano, dill, ... all those wonderful green things!! Good healthy grass or wide-blade grasses. Oh, you can plant some petunias too and they'll love you for those. Seriously, keep the yard pesticide free and the bunnies you have will forage for good items to nibble. I plant specifically to keep and attract the few rabbits we see in our neighborhood. Most are killed off, so keep in mind that if you start to have an overbundance, it's going to hasten in/attract preds like Hawks, raccoons (who eat the young), domestic and feral cats, free-roaming dogs, etc., etc. Offer plenty of safe haven brush piles or thickly wooden areas. Yea, two red tails in the sky this weekend. We'll be planting this summer for Added cover for the beelers. From your comments, sounds like you got some bunny-heaven going on at the present state. sigh, how I'd love to have a couple more peaceful herbivore creatures to gaze at at dawn and dusk. Their wild happy dances remind me of our companion pets. The poops (from my house bunnies, too!) are great fertilizer. Keep us posted. Link pictures if you can. Love to see them, fcf Nice to meet another wildlife gardener who doesn't view them as abhorrent pruners. [ vonyon, sarahbn, my hubby did a recent rescue of domestics. skip to site to view visuals. ] Please share the wild cottontail stories as time allows. Regards to the lil' wild ones who feel secure and content in your yard, pond and garden area. :)

I LOVE my Baby Turtle too, in my kitchen and piano room. Within view of it I have a BM Sulpher (Sulfer?) Yellow livingroom at 75%, and Palladian Blue ceilings, and a wall of floor to ceiling cabinets in Copley green which looks exactly like when I mixed half Baby Turtle and Half Palladian. So, while I really like it with cool colors ((My in-progress backsplash mosaic features the very same color tile with lots of other greens and turquoises, and I'm re-upholstering a 1950's loveseat in turquoise duck)) - BT also looks good with reds, so the hallway WAY across the room (going into DH's doorless office) is BM Cognac Snifter, which is a rich terra cotta. The 75% Sulphur Yellow works well with the Baby Turtle in my light. Sometimes they look very similar. They change in a passageway, so I can take a pic of them side by side if you like.